Aug 17, 2015

It used to be that the world respected the U.S. State Department. Filled with competent diplomats and negotiators, State pressed America’s will to nations across the world.

But, since President Obama took office, the State Department has become a sad pariah and laughingstock on the world stage.

First, with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and the Benghazi debacle and the gun-running to radical Islamic terrorist groups, people began to question the effectiveness of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy.

Then, with former Senator and Presidential candidate loser – John Kerry (who served in Vietnam) – replacing Hillary, people began to snicker about America’s lost influence in the world.

Kerry’s obviously amateur negotiations with Iran over obtaining nukes proves just how inept the Obama State Dept. has become.

Now, new revelations are out about an Obama State Dept. official using his position to work an illegal side business. The Washington Times has more:

A State Department employee who sold U.S. visas on the black market in Vietnam for up to $70,000 a pop was sentenced Friday to 64 months in prison, after a scam authorities said allows hundreds of travelers who had previously been denied entry to sneak into the U.S.

The scheme, which involved a handful of people and netted more than $9 million during two years that it ran, submitted about 500 fraudulent visa applications, and almost all of them were granted — even though many of the same people had been denied visas before.

Michael T. Sestak, who ran the non-immigrant visa section of the consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, took home about $3 million of that, which he laundered through buying properties in Thailand, federal authorities said.

Makes you wonder if this guy had ties to the “Clinton Crime Family Foundation”, doesn’t it?

But seriously, this is a tremendous national security breach. Who really knows who has been given access into this country because this corrupt bureaucrat lined his pockets at the safety expense of the American people.

“Because of this defendant’s selfish greed, nearly 500 foreign nationals were able to enter the United States without the proper screening. This sentence reflects the seriousness of his corrupt conduct,” said Vincent H. Cohen Jr., acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Sestak pleaded guilty in 2013. Several others in the case have already been sentenced, including one American citizen living in Vietnam who made more than $5 million from the scam. He was sentenced to serve eight years in prison.

Authorities said Sestak colluded with both American and Vietnamese citizens in Ho Chi Minh City to recruit and approve visas, using his position as chief of the division that reviewed the applications.

Payments ranged from $15,000 to $70,000, and many of the people had previously been denied visas, but were approved by Sestak’s scheme, prosecutors said.

Since this criminal enterprise operated during Hillary’s tenure as Secretary of State, perhaps a further investigation should be launched to see if the Clintons were involved.

If nothing else, this points to Hillary’s gross incompetence to fill the Secretary of State’s shoes. Where was the supervision? Where was the vetting? Where was the oversight of field personnel?

Oh yeah, Hillary, Barack Obama, and Susan Rice were all busy covering up what really happened in the Battle of Benghazi where four brave Americans were murdered by radical Islamic terrorists.

Remember, it was the video, the video that was all at fault!

I wonder if Hillary had any emails on her private, unsecured server from Mr. Sestak?